Spring interiors and articles combining spring interiors

ABSTRACT

A spring interior has a main face, or an extension of a main face, which is non-planar and has varying contours determined at least in part by at least one stiff yet resilient former of wire, rod, strip or the like secured to the main face. Preferred formers have parallel limbs joined by an integral, transverse base. The limbs may be inserted into parallel helical wires of the spring interior if such are provided. The former may be bent before or after being secured to the spring interior. The spring interior may be heat-treated to relieve stresses after it is in its final shape.

United States Patent [15] 3,681,798 Docker 51 Aug. 8,1972

[54] SPRING INTERIORS AND ARTICLES 1,179,062 4/1961 Adler ..5/267 XCOMBINING SPRING INTERIORS 2,656,880 10/1953 Graupnen. ..5/360 X3,085,260 4/1963 Caldemeyer eta1.......5/360 X [72] z 'f gsflz ggf a3,454,054 7/1969 Docker ..140/10 x [73] Assignee Slumberland GroupLimited, Bir- Przmary Exammer-Casmtr A. Nunberg mmgham EnglandAttorney-Scrivener, Parker, Scrivener & Clarke [22] Filed: June 30, 1970[2]] Appl. No.: 51,311 57 ABSTRACT A spring interior has a main face, oran extension of a [30] Fomgn Apphcatlon Pnomy Data main face, which isnon-planar and has varying con- July 3, 1969 Great Britain ..33,519/69tours determined at least in p y at least one stiff yet resilient formerof wire, rod, strip or the like [52] U.S.Cl. ..5/351,5/256,5/261,secured to the in e- Pref rred formers have 267/107 parallel limbsjoined by an integral, transverse base. [51] Int. Cl. ..A47c 23/04, A47c25/00 limbs may in erted into parallel helical wires of 53 FieldofSearch...267/l07; 297/284; 5/236, 237, spring lmener If such arepr9v1ded- The former 5/264, 246, 260-267, 351 may be bent before orafter being secured to the spring interior. The spring interior may beheat- 5 References i d treated to relieve stresses after it is in itsfinal shape.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Claims 13 Drawing Figures 999,678 8/1911 Schultzet a1. ..5/267 This invention relates to spring interiors and articlescontaining spring interiors. Such articles include mattresses, divans(i.e. supports for mattresses), seats, seat cushions, squabs, back-restsand the like. The spring interiors used in such articles usually havetwo main faces which are flat and parallel with each other when thespring interior is not stressed, and which are of generally square orrectangular shape. Spring interiors of that kind will hereinafter bereferred to as regular spring interiors.

It is sometimes desirable to make articles which contain springinteriors, with main faces which are contoured, that is which are notflat. For example the upper main surface of a seat cushion in a motorvehicle is often provided with a raised portion adjacentto the frontedge for supporting the thighs immediately above the knees. Hitherto ithas been the general practice to provide such articles with regularspring interiors and to provide superficial padding to shape thesurfaces of the articles, or alternatively to provide such articles withirregular spring interiors which have been specially constructed byassembling together individual pre-forrned springs of different sizes.Neither of these solutions is particularly satisfactory. The addition ofsuperficial padding reduces the effective resilience of the springinterior, while the use of individual springs of different sizes isrelatively expensive.

The present invention aims to overcome or at least to reduce thesedisadvantages.

From one aspect the present invention consists in a method of shaping aspring interior in which method as least one stiff yet resilient formerof wire, rod, strip or the like elongate material is secured to a mainface of the spring interior and is bent so as to determine at least inpart varying contours of said main face of the spring interior or of anextension of said main face.

From another aspect the present invention consists in a spring interiorshaped by the method outlined in the last preceding paragraph.

From yet another aspect the present invention consists in a springinterior in which at least one of the main faces, or an extensionthereof, is non-planar and has varying contours determined at least inpart by at least one stiff yet resilient former of wire, rod, strip orthe like elongate material secured to the main face.

Throughout this specification reference is frequently made to the mainfaces of spring interiors and they are described as being planar orcontoured. Reference is also made to extensions of the main faces, andagain these are described as being planar or contoured. It will beappreciated that these terms are used herein not in a strictlygeometrical sense, in that spring interiors by their very nature are ofopen-work construction and have component wires which may bend oroverlap so that they do not lie truly in a common plane. Neverthelessspring interiors are such that their component parts do quite closelydefine notional or imaginary faces which can be distinguished readilyand without significant ambiguity as to their positions and shapes. Itmust be understood therefore that when reference has been made to a facewhich is contoured this is a reference to a notional or imaginarysurface which deviates from the planar to an extent considerably greaterthan the minor irregularities or ambiguities resulting from such factorsas the thicknesses of the component wires, the clips or knots which maybe used to connect them together, or even the helix diameters of thehelical wires which may be present. Thus it is contemplated that therewill be changes in height in a contoured face or extension of at least 1inch in extent within a distance of 6 inches and may be considerablymore.

The invention is particularly applicable to regular spring interiors,but is also applicable to irregular ones.v

Where a spring interior is regular a former secured to one of its mainfaces may serve to alter the shape of that main face so that it is nolonger flat but is of varying contours, or it may project beyond thatmain face, leaving the face flat, and define an extension.

The same former may, of course, perform both functions at once so thatboth the main face and its extension are contoured. Similarly where aspring interior is irregular a former secured to one of its main facesmay alter the shape of that main face so that its contours are changedand are partially or almost wholly determined by the shape of theformer, or the former may project beyond that main face, leavingitscontours unaltered, and define an extension of varying contours. Hereagain thesarne former may perform both functions at once.

The spring interior with the former may be subjected to heat-treatmentwhich at least partially relaxes the stresses induced duringmanufacture. As a result it may happen that the contoured shape of oneof the main faces of the springinterior is no longer maintained by theshape of the former against the resistance of the component springs.This, however, does not alter the fact that during an earlier stage ofmanufacture, before the heat treatment, the contoured shape wasdetermined at least in part by the former, and that had the former notbeen secured to the spring interior the final shape of the main facewould have been different. Heat treatment to effect stress-relief isoften necessary when the spring interior is to be incorporated in anarticle which is to be sat on or lain on in use; stress relief is.usually less necessary when the article is only going to be leantagainst in use.

As indicated above the invention may be used with spring interiors ofvarious kinds. The spring interiors may for example be of the kindcomprising a plurality of individual coil springs with their axesparallel and their end coils defining the main surfaces of the springinterior. The end coils may be interconnected by straight wire linkages,or by clips, or by helical wires, each of these interconnectors being inthe main planes of the spring interior. Alternatively the springinteriors may be of the kind comprising bands of coil springs disposedside-by-side and interconnected by helical wires in the planes of themain faces of the spring interior and transverse to the bands, each bandbeing constituted by a single length of wire: bent so as to form a rowof coil springs, and each spring extending between the main faces andeach being joined to the next by an integral connector. Spring interiorsof the latter kind lend themselves to mechanised production andtherefore they are generally regular.

Where helical wires are incorporated in the main faces of the springinteriors the formers, or parts of 7 them, are preferably embraced bythe helical wires and are partially or wholly secured in place by beingso embraced. Where there are no helical wires the formers are preferablyclipped in place, as for example to the straight wire linkages'wheresuch are provided.

It is to be understood that although reference has been made above tothe addition of a single former to a spring interior, a plurality offormers may well be used. Similarly a former or formers may be securedto one of the main faces of a spring interior, or formers may be securedto both of the main faces thereof.

Where a plurality of formers are secured to a main face they arepreferably contoured alike and disposed adjacent to one another in aregular manner so that the face or its extension is similarly contouredover a relatively extensive area. Alteratively successive formers may beof gradually differing shapes so that the contours of the main face towhich they are secured, or the contours of the extension thereof, varygradually over a relatively extensive area.

Each former preferably comprises two spaced parallel or substantiallyparallel limbs interconnected by a base integral with the limbs and atone end thereof, the whole preferably being formed from a single lengthof wire. The limbs of the former are preferably equal in length. Theformer may be planar initially and its limbs may be bent to provide therequired contours after it has been secured to a spring interior.Alternatively the former may be bent first and secured to the springinterior subsequently. Yet again the former may be partially bent beforebeing secured in place and additionally bent after being secured inplace. The spacing between the limbs is preferably equal to, or anintegral multiple of, the spacing between adjacent rows of springs inthe spring interior.

Where helical wires are incorporated in the main faces of the springinterior the limbs of the former are preferably inserted into parallelhelical wires. The limbs may be crimped or corrugated to give themadditional stiffness.

The bases of the formers are usually straight and at right angles to theadjacent parts of the limbs, but if desired they may be somewhat curved.

When the former has been secured to the spring interior its base may bein an intermediate part of the main face of the spring interior, butpreferably the arrangement is such that the base extends along one edgeof the face or is beyond one edge and defines or assist in defining anedge of an extension to that face.

The invention will now .be more particularly described with reference tothe accompanying, in which:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view of a regular spring interiorbefore formers characteristic of the invention have been secured to it;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the spring interior shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the spring interior shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a former of a kind which can be securedto a spring interior of the kind shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative kind of former;

FIG. 6 1s a side view of a spring interior, similar to FIG. 3, but afterformers of the kind shown in FIG. 4 have been secured to it;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another kind of fonner which can besecured to a spring interior of the kind shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a spring interior, similar to FIG. 3, but afterformers of the kind shown in FIG. 7 have been secured to it;

FIG. 9 is a perspective of a seat incorporating the spring interiorshown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of yet another kind of former which can besecured to a spring interior of the kind shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 11 is a side view of a spring interior, similar to FIG. 3, butafter formers of the kind shown in FIG. 10 have been secured to it;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a seat incorporating the springinterior shown in FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a section through a divan incorporating a spring interiorembodying the invention.

The regular spring interior shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is of a known kind andcomprises a plurality of bands 1 of coil springs 2 disposedside-by-side. Each band 1 is constituted by a single length of wire bentso as to form coil springs 2, alternate springs being of one hand andthe springs between them being of the other hand. The axes of thesprings are approximately parallel to one another. Each spring 2 isjoined to the next by an integral connector 3 which lies in one of themain faces of the spring interior and extends lengthwise of the band.The coil springs 2 extend between the main faces 4 and 5 of the springinterior, and each spring 2 is linked to its neighbors by havingintermediate coils thereof passed around adjacent coils of theneighboring springs. There is a gap between each band 1 of springs andthe next, and the bands are interconnected by helical wires 6 at rightangles to the bands 1 and in the planes of the main faces 4 and 5 of thespring interior. Each helical wire 6 is linked to each band 1 in such amanner as to embrace the end parts of two neighboring springs 2immediately adjacent to the connectors 3 which stem from the ends of thesprings.

In the arrangement illustrated there are five bands 1 of springs, eachcontaining 14 springs 2, and 13 helical wires 6, six on one main face 4and seven on the other main face 5.

Formers of different kinds can be inserted into the helical wires 6 atone or both main faces. Various kinds of formers are illustrated inFIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 10. Each former comprises a length of stiff yetresilient wire bent so as to provide a straight base 7, equal in lengthto the spacing between adjacent helical wires 6 on each of the mainfaces 4 and 5 of the spring interior, and a pair of parallel orsubstantially parallel limbs 8 of equal length, the limbs being crimpedor corrugated as shown. One limb 8 enters each helical wire 6 on one ofthe main faces 4 and 5 except where there are an odd number of helicalwires, in which case the end helical wire does not contain a limb of aformer. Thus three formers can be secured to each of the faces 4 and 5.

In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 each limb 8 of each former isbent so that the part of the limb nearest the base 7 is arcuate asindicated at 9 and lies in a plane normal to the base 7, while theremainder of the limb is straight and is aligned with the adjacent endof the base. The length of each limb 8 is equal to the length of eachhelical wire 6, and when the forms are fully inserted into the helicalwires from one end thereof the spring interior is distorted as shown inFIG. 6 so that the main face containing these helical wires has a raisedportion of arcuate cross-section near one edge, while the remainder isflat. There are five bands 1 and the raised portion extends across twoof them.

The wire from which the formers are made is sufficiently stiff topreclude any significant alterations in the shapes of the formers asthey are inserted into the helical wires. It is found that the othermain face 11 of the spring interior is scarcely distorted at all. Ifdesired, however, the main face 11 may be stiffened by means of planarformers of the kind shown in FIG. 5.

The shaped interior may be used in a motor vehicle seat, the shapedspring interior being covered with a layer of padding of substantiallyunifonn thickness, and the whole being contained in a cover ofappropriate shape.

In another arrangement each former is modified as 1 shown in FIG. 7 inthat the part of each limb 8 nearest the base 7 is bent into a 90 arc l2and lies in a plane normal to the base, while the remainder of the limbis straight and is tangential to that part of the arc 12 from which itstems. As shown in FIG. 8 the straight parts of the limbs 8 are insertedinto the helical wires 6 of one main face, leaving the arcuate parts 12to define a curved extension which terminates in the plane of the othermain face, the edge of the extension in said plane being defined by thespaced, aligned bases 7 of the formers. FIG. 9 shown a seatincorporating the spring interior shown in FIG. 8.

In yet another arrangement, illustrated in FIG. 10, the formers areagain modified in that each limb 8 is bent, to an angle of about 25 or30, at a point spaced from the base 7 by a distance equal to about aquarter or a fifth of the overall length of the limb. As before, the twolimbs 8 of each former lie in parallel planes normal to the base 7. Thelimbs 8 of the formers are fully inserted into the helical wires so thata shallow depression is formed in the main face of the spring interiornear one edge thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 11. Alternatively it wouldbe possible for the limbs 8 of the formers to be inserted into thehelical wires 6 up to the points at which they are bent, so that theprojecting parts of the formers define a planar extension to the springinterior, terminating in an edge defined by the spaced, aligned bases 7of the formers. The extension projects away from the other main facerather than towards it. Either of these shaped spring interiors may beused in the seat cushions or squabs of motor-vehicle seats.

FIG. 12 shows a seat incorporating the spring interior shown in FIG. 11.Where the shape spring interiors are to be used as seat cushions theymay be stress-relieved by being heated in a suitable oven to between 500F and 550 F.

It is to be understood that, if desired, planar formers like that shownin FIG. 5 can be inserted into the helical wires and subsequentlydeformed so that they assume shapes such as those illustrated in FIGS.4, 7 and The invention is also applicable to divans, that is to supportsfor mattresses. In particular a divan may comprise a spring interiorprovided with formers with outer end parts which project from each ofthe two longer side ed es of the r main urface f the i eri r, thprojecti ng parts ii iii; curve upwards to diine m ex tension along eachside edge with an upwardly concave face. When the spring interior isincorporated in a divan the cover presents a concave upper surface in iwhich a mattress can be located. A divan of this kind is illustrated inFIG. 13. The divan comprises a spring interior 13 secured to a woodenbase 14 with legs 15. The spring interior 13 comprises a plurality ofbands of springs 16 similar to the bands I, joined by helical wires 17similar to the helical wires 6. Formers 18, each somewhat similar tothat shown in FIG. 10, are secured to the side edges of the upper faceof the spring interior 13, their limbs entering the helical wires 17.The pro- 20 jecting end parts of the formers 18 are curved upwards,

and the bases at the outer ends of the formers define the edges of theextensions to the upper face and are preferably connected to aperipheral strip-metal frame member. A thin layer of padding 19 coversthe spring interior l3 and its extensions, and the whole is enclosedwithin a fabric cover 20.

The present invention is related to that which is the subject of our US.Pat. No. 1,1 13,772 and articles may embody both the present inventionand the invention which is the subject of that patent.

What is claimed is:

1. A spring interior comprising a plurality of compression-springelements disposed in an array, the ends of the spring elements definingat least part of first and second main faces, a plurality of helicalwires disposed in said main faces of the spring interior, the helicalwires linking adjacent compression-spring elements, at least the firstmain face being non-planar and having varying contours, and at least onestiff yet resilient former of elongate but non-rectilinear shape, atleast a part of which extends lengthwise of one of said helical wires insaid first main face and determining at least to some extent the varyingcontours of that face.

2. A spring interior according to claim 1 in which there are a pluralityof substantially parallel helical wires disposed in said first main faceof the spring interior, and there are a plurality of formers eachcomprising two spaced substantially parallel limbs of nonrectilinearshape and a base integral with the limbs at one end of each former, thetwo substantially parallel limbs of each former being inserted into twoof said substantially parallel helical wires disposed in said first mainface.

3. A spring interior according to claim 2 in which parts of the limbsproject from the helical wires to define an extension portion of saidfirst main face, and the bases of the formers are mutually aligned todefine the outer edge of said extension portion.

1. A spring interior comprising a plurality of compressionspringelements disposed in an array, the ends of the spring elements definingat least part of first and second main faces, a plurality of helicalwires disposed in said main faces of the spring interior, the helicalwires linking adjacent compressionspring elements, at least the firstmain face being non-planar and having varying contours, and at least onestiff yet resiLient former of elongate but non-rectilinear shape, atleast a part of which extends lengthwise of one of said helical wires insaid first main face and determining at least to some extent the varyingcontours of that face.
 2. A spring interior according to claim 1 inwhich there are a plurality of substantially parallel helical wiresdisposed in said first main face of the spring interior, and there are aplurality of formers each comprising two spaced substantially parallellimbs of non-rectilinear shape and a base integral with the limbs at oneend of each former, the two substantially parallel limbs of each formerbeing inserted into two of said substantially parallel helical wiresdisposed in said first main face.
 3. A spring interior according toclaim 2 in which parts of the limbs project from the helical wires todefine an extension portion of said first main face, and the bases ofthe formers are mutually aligned to define the outer edge of saidextension portion.